Tuesday, 29 January 2013

Ivory Seas - Still Brooding

Single review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk

London band Ivory Seas can count themselves lucky in some respects. The band was formed gradually as more musicians became friends and jamming sessions began to take place, which is all very common and natural. However, showing just a hint of ambition they decided to try and seek out producer Richard Formby (the man who produced Wild Beasts' Mercury nominated album). This won't be the first time a new and unknown band has chased a big name, nor is it likely to be the first time that Richard Formby has been sent some demos with a polite letter asking if he'd like to, y'know, come and produce the songs or something.

However they managed it, Ivory Seas won the musical lottery and somehow ended up with Mr Formby producing (and also getting writing credits) on their debut single. No mean feat, and we doff our proverbial caps to Ivory Seas for making this happen. The result is typically wonderful sounding, and yes, you can hear a bit of Wild Beasts about 'Still Brooding', and this is a good thing. The quartet are no copyists though, and the song, although not the most original piece in the world, does have its own personality and having already caught the ear of one major player, the signs are that they may have some more nuggets in stock. Plus with the luck they've had so far, maybe a letter to Mr Eavis about that Sunday night Pyramid Stage slot could be a good next step...